WELLINGTON, Fla.--Grace Debney of Great Britain on Zarina de Vidau won the $62,500 CSI2* Grand Prix, the first of two classes on the derby field on Sunday, Feb.4.
Grace Debny on Zarina de Vidau (Photo by Sportfot)A field of 43 competed over a course set by Anderson Lima of Brazil, with 11 clean.
Debney went midway through the jump-off and was clean in a time of 37.69 seconds, a time that held up for the win.
“My horse is naturally super fast,” said the 20-year-old Debney. “I walked a plan and talked about it with a few people but felt like I should stick with it. A couple of people had different ideas but I know my horse really well because I’ve had her for five years.”
“I was definitely worried about Tom Wachman and Mark Bluman,” Debney said. “Mark had my time so I was definitely sweating a little. She's so quick though, I never have to wear spurs on her because she's always just going and you can't really beat that footspeed. She actually won this grand prix two years ago and then she was out last WEF, so it's just really nice to have her back.”
Wachman of Ireland was the closest challenger but still fell almost two seconds shy of Debney’s time as he rode Lazzaro Delle Schiave to finish in 39.36 seconds.
Jacqueline Ruyle placed third on San Chano.
THE DAY concluded with Ireland's Shane Sweetnam on Irandole du Flot winning over 41 entries in the $62,500, CSI4* 1.50m Classic.
Shane Sweetnam on Irandole du Flot (Photo by Sportfot)There were 14 clean in the first round, and Sweetnam competed halfway through the jump-off.
“This horse has had a great week,” he said. “She was first in her first class out, and then second on Friday, and now she’s won today. She’s really maturing and stepping up. She only did her first 1.50m class at the end of last year so to be this competitive already against this standard of horses shows how good she is.”
“It’s a great class because it's not a grand prix but it's a top class,” he said. “You can really judge where your horse is experienced and also where they need more education, whereas a grand prix like yesterday is a very tough class, so if the horse is inexperienced they can get lost. They learn a lot in these 12 weeks of circuit and it's great to have options like the grass and the international ring throughout the season.”
Ireland's Cian O’Connor on Eve D’Ouilly was just short of Sweetnam’s time of 38.40 seconds , finishing in a time of 38.95.
Katie Dinan was third on Atika des Hauts Vents.
The 2024, 1.50m Championship Jumper Series will take place weekly throughout WEF, culminating during Week 11’s Saturday Night Lights with $150,000 in prize money.
Riders who consistently compete in the series will accumulate points towards the series’ title.
